The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
A vehicle headrest, typically provided in an automobile or airplane, having a vehicle-mounted support typically fixed in a seat back and a cushion against which the occupant of the seat can rest the back of his or her head is known. Headrests provide protection against whiplash by preventing the occupant's head from snapping too far back when rebounding after a front-end collision or simply moving back in a rear-end collision. Recently, media systems have been incorporated into backs of headrests, providing vehicle occupants the opportunity to view entertainment or educational video programs during vehicle operation.
Such media headrest systems are known to include optical media drives such as a digital video disc player or CD-ROM player. Access to the disc drive is provided via a slot or a moveable tray, positioned in or on a top, bottom, or a left or right side drive of the headrest. Accessing a disc drive from a top, bottom, or side position is inconvenient and typically necessitates protruding at least a portion of the drive from the headrest, offsetting a center-of-mass of the headrest, and exposing the drive to potential unintended impacts by vehicle occupants or objects moved in or out of a vehicle. Other known drive access configurations require an operator to pivot or remove a video monitor to access the drive. Installation and operation of such systems can be inconvenient. Additionally, such configurations require additional components to pivot, offset, or remove the video monitor. Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a front forward drive access enabling an operator to insert or eject a disc using a forward motion and for interfacing with an external media device, such as an iPod®, iPad® interface module, and iTouch®, in a front loading manner.
Typically, media headrest systems have been installed as aftermarket products where the seat back or head restraint, whether part of an adjustable head restraint unit or a molded bucket seat, is modified to accept the video display device. Unfortunately, existing media headrest systems are often secured poorly to the headrest and pose a risk for dislodging during a dynamic vehicle event, such as a vehicle collision, posing an additional risk to vehicle occupants. In many cases, glue and staples are used to secure mounting brackets to the headrest that receive the visual display unit. Additionally, media systems that concentrate components towards an outside of the headrest have a center-of-mass that contributes to undesirable torque forces during a dynamic vehicle event that may dislodge the media system from the headrest. Shifting a center-of-mass of the media system towards a center of the headrest and towards the seat back alleviates a significant amount of the undesirable torque forces, decreasing risk that the media system will dislodge during a dynamic vehicle event. Therefore, there is a need for embodiments of a media headrest system and method of mounting that securely attaches the media system to the headrest to reduce the risk that the system dislodges during vehicle operation.
A further difficulty with existing media headrest system designs is that they do not efficiently dissipate thermal energy generated by the media system. During operation, thermal energy generated by the media system can increase operating temperatures of associated components, damaging, deteriorating the components, and/or resulting in a thermal event such as a fire. Media systems that inhibit or ineffectively dissipate the generated thermal energy risk damaging the components of the media system rendering the media system inoperable or creating an unsafe volatile condition. Thus, there is a need for embodiments of a headrest media system to dissipate generated thermal energy during operation.